11.09.2016

And I Just Remembered This Gift That Was Only A Bit At The Time


at 1:34 PM

Above The Fold



Full readable page.

Bonus close up:

at 9:42 AM

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • "I don't believe what I just saw!" - Jack Buck calling Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series and me, holding a Teddy Bear,  at around 11:00 p.m. last night. 
  • I've seen Bush v. Gore at the Supreme Court and the presidential upset of all time. We've all seen some crazy history. 
  • Trump beat Hillary like TCU beat Baylor. It's been a good week for me. 
  • The Eighth Grader in the House turned 14 today. We told her, "Baby, remember that when you turned 14 that we learned Donald Trump will be President of the United States." Nothing more. Nothing less.
  • When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. And I have never in my whole life been so wrong about an election as this one. 
  • I thank the Baby Jesus that ALL CAPS guy didn't have $25,000 (or $10) to bet or I would be $25,000 poorer this morning. (Side note: My dad, who never chastises me and lets me be a nut as he stands by shaking his head every day as he reads Random Thoughts, told me last Friday that the bet I proposed was "dumb" and that "you better be careful." He was, as he has always been, correct.)
  • Look at my "live blog" from last night (below). I sound like a moron. But at least give me this credit: I never take down any stupid thing I've said. 
  • I woke up Mrs. LL last night to tell her that Trump won. She asked, "He won Florida?" My response, "No, baby, he won everything." Her in a very groggy state: "Does this mean we are moving to Costa Rica?"  For a second I thought about putting her on the back of a chopper.
  • The great quote going around about Trump voters is this: "They didn't take him literally. They took him seriously." That is the most accurate thing ever written.
  • And Mrs. LL can back me up on this as I told her last night before 7:00 p.m. that the Ticket's "Gordon Keith scared the hell out of me this morning. What if there are a ton of voters who just want to throw a human hand grenade into the whole system? We laughed at him when he declared. We laughed at him during the primaries. And we are laughing at him now. And he has proven us wrong every time."
  • In all this chaos, the son of crazy Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who was handed a district judgeship in Houston by appointment, got beat by a Democrat. Blame your daddy. And he sounds like a good guy and a fair judge.
  • Note to Messenger or the Wise County Election Office: Tell me the percentage of straight ticket Republican voters. I bet it is insane. 
  • Random Compliment: Shout out to a clerk in the Wise County Clerk's office who cares so much about her job that she gets rattled when things go wrong when it is not her fault.
  • I got into a Twitter Fight with Fox 4's Steve Eagar! I'll post it later.
  • Voters in California, Massachusetts and Nevada approved recreational marijuana last night. I told you to invest in legal edibles. That may be the only thing I've been right about lately.





at 8:36 AM

11.08.2016

Election Night Open Thread

We begin:

As I watch Fox News for the first returns, I see they have their own Clarice Tinsley reading tweets from the viewers. Sheesh.

And the polls closing in Texas in one hour, I just saw an ad paid for by Texas with your tax dollars on what type of ID you need to vote.

Edit: At 7:04 the early voting regarding Ranger Stadium is all I need to know. It will pass.
Edit at 7:06: Are we getting close to calling Florida for Clinton?

Edit at 7:14: It is over. I'm calling this election right now. The only reason the networks aren't calling Florida is because they will lose viewers before the night even begins.

Edit at 7:23: All the networks are putting up ridiculously close voting numbers. They need the excitement. I've been told for years I can't trust the Main Stream Media so they are holding back as long as they can before the call it for Hillary.

Edit at 7:30: Florida is still close, but the networks now finally tell me that Hillary is way ahead in North Carolina and Ohio. Ohio! It's over. Some network needs to call this election.

Edit at 7:42: I'll back off my call of Florida. Maybe. It's still obviously over. This is all Idiocracy news entertainment now.

Edit at 8:01: Adding to my conspiracy theory that this is all entertainment, CNN says it is too early to project Texas and New York. You kidding me? I could project that yesterday.

Edit at 8:18: They will drag this out for about 45 more minutes. And CNN's coverage is a complete microscopic mess. I'm over to Fox now.

Edit at 8:36: Still think Hillary has this thing without question. Even Fox is saying that North Carolina is "not as close at it appears". That means they think Hillary will win but won't say it.

Edit at 8:59: If there were four networks facing the greatest night of viewers of all time (when they all struggle for viewers), would not the Network Heads get together and agree to drag this thing out? It's ridiculous. I haven't heard an update for NC, Florida or Ohio in the last 20 minutes.

Edit at 9:09: Ladies and gentleman, you are all being scammed for entertainment. My prediction: There will come a designated moment when all the networks call, by agreement,  the election at the same time based upon the results they have been holding. And it will obviously be for Hillary.  This is all about ratings.

Edit: 9:22: Adding to my conspiracy theory, Fox News hasn't talked about incoming election results for 15 minutes. Just a panel discussion to promote the brand. Earlier they were in a frenzy of pointing out county by county votes.

Edit 9:36: There is no way a network has not called North Carolina or Ohio or Pennsylvania or maybe even Florida. There is your agreement. (And I absolutely realize I'm talking like a Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Theorist.)

Edit 9:54. Let's see how Hillary is doing against Trump in Wise County. I'm certain the county is now a bit more progressive:

Edit at 9:54 and 30 seconds: I retract that.

Edit at 10:01: Trump wins Florida. (AP says).  I still think this is an orchestrated release of information.

Edit at 10:03: Now we just have to wait for the networks to call Pennsylvania and Michigan for Hillary. I'll say it again - this has been an organized crime of news entertainment.

Edit at 10:34: Is it down to Michigan? Oh, my lord. Have I been wrong? I'll admit it when I'm wrong. Nevada? Pennsylvania? I have to grab my Liberally Lean calculator.

Edit at 10:45: Throw in Nevada and Arizona. I overreacted for a second. There is no way Hillary loses this.

Edit: It's midnight and I'm going to bed. It seems like it is not technically over but that's about itl
at 6:48 PM

Trump Calling Baker In Three, Two, . . .


at 4:06 PM

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program




at 1:22 PM

And Now For Something Completely Different

at 1:04 PM

Update: Trump Voted



That's a funny photo.
at 11:25 AM

Let's Check In On The Election

Oh, my. (And the comment is more shocking then a random person dying overnight.)
at 10:02 AM

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • It's Election Day. I love politics but I'm as tired of this as you are.
  • Clinton wins. She wins big. And by "big" I mean "big" by national election standards. It looks like Florida has swung back to Hillary but it's too close to call.  If that turns out to be an early win for her, the election will be called before you finish dinner.
  • The great 538.com finally settles on this: 

  • I don't know where ALL CAPS guy went over the last three days. 
  • The next person to carry Wise County as a Democrat is the first person smart enough to garner the Hispanic vote. And it starts in Bridgeport. 
  • Everyone forgets that Wise County, not too long ago, was completely Democratic. In 1992, every county-wide office holder was a Democrat. In 1996, Todd Durden won the County Attorney's job as a Republican -- the only Republican to win -- by a razor thin margin. (He beat the incumbent, Stephen Hale, who publicly refused to prosecute marijuana cases.) And then the transition began to Republican as everyone finally saw the writing on the wall.
  • And make no mistake, Wise County didn't have Democrat "ideals" even pre-1996. It was just the way it had always been. And we are slow to change. 
  • I saw where Hillary just voted. Random thought: Trump did remember to register, didn't he? 
  • See screenshot below. Before the paywall got me, I read it was likely that one of them will plea to a misdemeanor and all others would have charges dropped. I'm guessing the initially reported facts turned out to be far from true. Edit: The Dallas Observer now has the story.
  •                                
  • ESPN's 30 for 30 will produce an episode on the 1988 Dallas Carter Cowboys.  Robbery and mayhem abounded. 
  • Denton County court reporters, and there are a ton of them, make $103,737.92.  What they do is amazing, but that is one great gig. 
  • It will be interesting to see if Arlington voters approve the new Rangers stadium. Hey, I like air conditioning too, but how can you just walk away from a perfectly wonderful ballpark?
  • We need to rethink police chases, and I would have lost my mind it this had been the result of a stolen "bait car" yesterday. (I think most bait cars are inoperable or can be shut down remotely.)
  • There was a prayer vigil for "our country" at the Wise County Courthouse steps last evening. I didn't see that advertised beforehand.
  • I was watching Fox News last night and saw the following three ads in a row: (1) Some kind of freezing machine which can make food last for 25 years -- for the Doomsday Prepper, (2) Gold, and (3) the NRA.  Make no mistake about it: There is a very large percentage of the population preparing for a civil war. I'm serious. I know a couple of really smart people who those ads are aimed at. 

at 8:37 AM

11.07.2016

Entertainingly Intense!


at 11:14 AM

But At Least She's A Real Charmer



USA TODAY- A 19-year-old woman claims she is pregnant with “baby Jesus,” despite an ultrasound proving that she is not carrying a child. Haley, who appeared on the Dr. Phil show this week, said she feels her unborn baby moving, and despite an ultrasound proving otherwise, she will not turn her back on her child.

 Get on board the crazy train. Amazing. She just gets hit with uncontroverted evidence and fires back with the equivalent of "Just the opposite" after a long and awkward pause. And what's up with the foul mouth on her? You would expect that from someone claiming to be pregnant with the Angel of Darkness, but not the baby Jesus.

Sympathy to the doctor in that clip. There's no he saw that verbal attack from the Fake Mary coming.

at 10:26 AM

Oh, My!


at 9:00 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • A Texas DPS Trooper has been suspended pending an investigation after stopping two teenage girls for speeding coming home from a concert. After discovering "one pill" both were arrested and, while at the jail, it was discovered they both had nipple rings. So, according to the girls, he attempted to remove the piercings with his own pair of pliers. This is really mind-blowing. 
  • Yes, that was a Baylor disaster against TCU. And it doesn't help when the assistant coaches took a shot at the incompetent Board of Regents the night before the game on Twitter.  That wasn't Baylor vs. TCU. That was a civil war of Baylor Football vs. Board of Regents.
  • Art Briles might be guilty of something. He might not. The problem is that this thing has been so ridiculously handled that we don't know. The closest we got was that the Wall Street Journal said he "learned" of one of the assaults. But we don't know who he learned it from and it was well after the assault had already been reported to others in authority who were in a position to do something. But who knows. And therein lies the problem. 
  • I said the other day to invest in Drones and Virtual Reality. After tomorrow's elections, I want to add another: Legal edible marijuana products. There's money to be made.
  • My dad says that he recalls when juries in Texas weren't selected at random from voter registration or drivers license lists. Instead, four or five folks were called in to hand select those who would come in for a jury panel. 
  • Wow: Before 1954, females were not allowed on juries in Texas. 
  • At the request of the Eighth Grader In The House, we watched the new Ghostbusters over the weekend. Verdict: It is horrible. And when they made the rare clever joke, they would then explain it to you. 
  • I watched one episode, Nosedive, of Black Mirror. I love that series. It's a chilling insight as to where we are headed.
  • Mark Cuban has revoked the credentials of two local ESPN reporters who cover the Mavericks. That guy is unhinged and is almost a mini-Trump.
  • There is a Letter to the Editor this week in the Messenger complaining about a local bookstore placing atheist and agnostic books next to the Christian books. She blamed "political correctness" because they used to be kept "under the counter" where they belonged. Uh, what year is this? 
  • A guy got rushed out of a Trump rally after an assassination scare. (There wasn't one.) He was causing a ruckus and later claimed to be a "Never Trump" guy. Then I saw him interviewed and he said he had donated and voted for Hillary.  I guess that technically makes him "Never Trump" but not exactly what the term means.
  • Former Attorney General Janet Reno has died. I remember her for ordering this:
  • Or this:
  • The Ticket sent Gordon Keith for a "man on the street" type interview on Friday morning at the Texas Motor Speedway where campers had gathered for the race. He talked to two nine year olds who said that Hillary was "evil", was going to "take away the Internet" and "separate the whites and blacks." Oh, my. 
  • Once you learn about the "Mannequin Challenge" I hope you conclude it is stupid. (The Cowboys did it and TCU did it.)
  • Wrong way driver over the weekend:
  • WBAP's Brian Estridge this morning on ISIS encouraging American Muslims not to vote tomorrow: "Not a bad idea." And on the organization's threat for violence: "Be on the look out for any Middle Easterner with a backpack at Spencer's at the mall." Incredible. 
  • Some say Jerry Jones will replace Prescott with Romo once they get to the playoffs because of Romo's experience. Dumbest thing I've ever heard. What exactly is it about Romo's playoff record that would make someone inclined to believe he would give the Cowboys a better chance to win? 




at 8:36 AM

11.04.2016

It's Friday. Let's Get Out Of Here.

Bits are fun.
Never get out of your car at NASCAR.
Ain't no humor like Old Testament humor.
I wonder if that ring went flying.
Her ability to laugh makes her a "Hey, now."
"I told you not to lay on me!"
at 3:00 PM

Tarrant County Prosecutor's Closing Argument Gets Case Reversed

What was it in this murder case?
Was there any evidence of that? Uh, no. That's a problem.

And since the political atmosphere at the time of the trial in 2014, some of the relevant news events were listed in the opinion. Edit: I didn't word that very well.

Opinion here. Concurrence here. Dissent here (which condemned the comment but said that trial counsel did not preserve the error for appellate review.)
at 11:47 AM

The Cubs Parade Is Hours Away And It's Already Turnt'd Up




at 11:05 AM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • I don't think I've ever watched Good Morning Texas but the local townsfolk appear to be excited about its road show this morning. 
  • I went to vote today and was asked, "May I see your ID?" Whoa. Wasn't the Texas voter law struck down? Yes. But, under a settlement of that case, the alternative is to fill out a "Reasonable Impediment Declaration" under penalty of perjury with the contradictory disclaimer of "The reasonableness of your impediment or difficulty cannot be questioned." From there, you either had to have your voter card, or one of the following: A certified birth certificate, current utility bill, bank statement, government check, any government ID (showing address or photo), or paycheck. Sheesh. I gave up my five second act of civil disobedience and showed the ID.
  • And you still think there is voter fraud in Texas? The most trusted man in news, entertainment, and pop culture almost didn't get to vote this morning. (But I got a couple of bullet points out of it -- Which is nice.)
  • The creepiest thing you'll read all day: "South Carolina police have found a woman who has been missing for two months 'chained up like a dog' inside a storage container on a 100-acre property, the local sheriff said." It was on the property of a registered sex offender. Her boyfriend, who went missing along with her in August, has still not been located. 
  • Do you think there will be anyone who gets up at 2:00 a.m. to adjust their clock because they've been told to do it at 2:00 a.m.?
  • Dallas Police had a bad day: "Senior Cpl. Justin Shaffer was fired Thursday after he was found to have lied about his work and harassed his ex-wife, and Officer Ricardo Solis resigned amid allegations he approached two girls for sex last year, police said."
  • Death penalty cringe: With an eight member Supreme Court, it still takes five votes to stay an execution for review. Yesterday, four voted for a stay to review a case. Justice Roberts finally joined them writing that they were wrong but would do so as a "courtesy". That just seems a little fast and free with the issue of life or death.
  • This looked like a mess in Arlington after a truck lost its load of propane tanks:

  • Everyone on Fox News promotes their own book but now Megyn Kelly has joined the group. Her's is interesting in that she "details of her alleged sexual harassment by her former Fox News boss, Roger Ailes" including that he "to help 'advance' Kelly's’s career in exchange for 'sexual favors.'" Recall Fox News settled with Gretchen Carlson after she sued Fox over the harassment.
  • George Soros has donated $2 million to the opponent of Sheriff Joe and $1.5 million to the Democratic challenger in Houston's DA race. Not only are they state races, they are county races. 
  • College Football: Don't rule out a 2 loss Oklahoma team making the Final Four before all is said and done. And the Aggies could actually pull it off if they win out (and Alabama wins out including SEC Championship game)
  • I've mentioned before that Dak Prescott might end up being seriously underpaid. But can he do anything about it? All rookies sign a four year contract and the very important labor agreement provides they are paid according to how they are "slotted" (picked) in the draft. Dak could hold out but can the Cowboys pay him more if they wanted to? The answer appears to be no. The labor agreement says that rookie contracts cannot be renegotiated during the first three years. (Otherwise the pay scale based upon slotting would be meaningless.)

at 8:39 AM
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